For the fifth time, the Kunstmuseum Bonn is inviting Bonn’s citizens to contribute their project ideas to the museum’s programme as part of the Zwischenspiel. Now an integral part of the exhibition programme, the Zwischenspiel demonstrates the museum’s openness to the wishes of the city’s society. The aim is to try out new formats together and sound out the museum’s tasks and opportunities. Last year, the Zwischenspiel included a great deal of social and political engagement, unusual performances and exhibitions, interactive workshops and taxi rides to unknown destinations.

From 16 September – 31 October 2024, people from Bonn and the surrounding area were able to apply with their project ideas. A jury selected the following projects, which will be realised at the Kunstmuseum Bonn from February to April 2025:

18 – 23 Feb
Konrad Bohley and Kerstin Carlsson Am Ende, Space of Becoming

Over the course of a week, you can watch the artists at work. While Konrad Bohley (filmmaker and performer) creates a complete short film in which he plays all the characters himself, Kerstin Carlsson Am Ende (painter) lets herself be inspired by his work. She creates large-format paintings on site, which in turn influence Bohley’s character development. The process is openly reflected upon in regular discussions. The creative act, which is otherwise a personal experience, is opened up to the outside world for a week. Visitors gain an intimate insight into the creative process and the dynamics between filmmaking, performance, acting and painting. For the artists, working in public is an experimental process – an opening that the two artists hope will also be transferred to the audience. With the project, they want to create a place for transparency and coming together in the museum and reduce distance in an increasingly polarised society.

Accompanying dates:
Sun, 23 Feb: Exhibition of the results
Sun, 23 Feb, 2 pm: Artist Talk

4 – 9 Mar
a.mu.co.co, We care_We share_We change

‘Crochet as a common good-oriented seizure of power and collective embrace of our self-confidence.’ – a. mu. co. co.

FLINTA* and female socialised skills are underrepresented in many areas, they are rarely made visible, promoted or valued. At the Kunstmuseum Bonn,  the collective a. mu. co. co. would like to explore the question of how an environment can be created in which FLINTA* can develop and give space to their needs and feelings. At the centre of the project is the shared experience of feminist self-efficacy through creative work. By crocheting together, a work of art is created from recycled textile yarn – a symbol of diversity, community and empowerment. Visitors are invited to get actively involved, to explore their own needs and to use the activity as a source of resources. In addition to crocheting and sharing, there are daily events on feminist topics such as self-efficacy and care work. On 8 March, International Women’s Day, the resulting artwork is taken out onto the street. With its carpet landscape, meditation cushions and seating, the space invites you to relax, be creative and exchange ideas. Materials such as wool, crochet hooks and poster boards are available to help create the artwork.

Accompanying dates:
Tue, 04 – Sun, 09 March, 4 – 6 pm: Events on feminist topics
Sat, 8 March: On International Women’s Day, the resulting artwork will be taken out onto the street

18 – 23 Mar
NUANS, Tutorial for Imaginative Actions

The project is the third part of a series of participatory projects in the same format. Following Tutorial for Leadership (Wiels, Brussels 2017) and Tutorial for Reality (Weltkunstzimmer, Düsseldorf 2022), the artist group NUANS is planning a Tutorial for Imaginative Actions that interacts with visitors and the collection of the Kunstmuseum Bonn.

The participating visitors will receive T-shirts and associated tasks that they will carry out in the museum’s collection rooms. The participants pass on their results and experiences to NUANS in the Zwischenenspielraum, who then realise them as drawings, sculptures or choreographies. The resulting documents of the Imaginative Actions can then be seen alongside the T-shirts and a changing room in the Zwischenspielraum.

NUANS is an internationally active artists’ initiative that has been constantly entering into new collaborations at different locations since 2006. A central concern of the group is the production of knowledge through the exchange of ideas, stories and images.

Accompanying dates:
Wed, 19 Mar, 17:30: Vernissage

25 – 30 Mar
Karen Eliot, Billionaire Mindset

At the centre of the installation Billionaire Mindset is a video in which an AI demonstrates its supposed failure to visitors in the style of a social media reel: They have no dream body, no celebrity, no yacht and not even a whole Bitcoin. Meanwhile, the supposed success of others is shown on the glittering social media channels of influencers and millionaires. The video is part of a larger installation that stages a sterile, impersonal living room in the perfectionist, undercooled aesthetic of a film like American Psycho.

On Saturday 29 March, the installation will be activated with an interactive action. Twelve numbered pieces of paper will be hidden in the exhibition space, which together form a seed phrase for a Bitcoin wallet. A seed phrase is a sequence of random words that stores the data needed to access or restore cryptocurrencies on blockchains or crypto wallets. Visitors are invited to search for these pieces of paper and complete the seed phrase to eventually claim the wallet for themselves.

On the following day, the experiences and impressions gained during the activity are to be reflected on in a joint discussion.

Accompanying dates:
Sat, 29 March, 12 – 5 p.m.: Bitcoin search
Sun, 30.03., 3 – 5 pm: Discussion

1 – 6 Apr
Annika and Andreas Leese, @teatripeurope

Annika and Andreas Leese spent a year travelling through Europe by bus. From Bonn to Great Britain to Georgia and back again. In addition to photos, sketchbooks and ink drawings, they brought back one thing above all: memories of numerous encounters with people – in different places and with very individual stories.

In their project at the art museum, the two want to create a meeting space on the subject of travelling, to exchange ideas with visitors about being foreign, about language barriers, about becoming familiar with each other, about wind and weather. The first port of call is their red VW bus in front of the museum. You can have a cosy chat about travelling over a cup of tea. If you like, you can also record a special experience on tape. The reports are collected and presented in a tent in the museum. Visitors are invited to listen to the reports and write or draw their own experiences on paper. The results will in turn be presented on the walls of the exhibition space and offer a new opportunity for dialogue.